Senate Bill Provides 5-year Roadmap for Energy Research Funding

APS has given its support to the newly introduced “Energy Title of the America COMPETES (Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act) Reauthorization Act of 2015” (S. 1398).

May 28, 2015 | Tawanda W. Johnson, APS Office of Public Affairs

On a party line vote, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a full COMPETES reauthorization that failed to get any support from scientific organizations.

Co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Chris Coons (D-DE), and five other senators, S. 1398 would put energy research on a path of sustained, reliable funding under a bipartisan, partial reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act.

“The Senate bill is notable for making science a priority, even in times of constrained budgets,” said Michael S. Lubell, APS director of public affairs.

The legislation would bolster energy research programs in the Department of Energy’s Office of Science (DOE-SC) and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E).

Moreover, the bill would nearly triple funding for DOE-SC’s Early Career and Distinguished Scientist Awards, which help scientists begin their lab careers and be recognized for outstanding research in their fields, respectively.

The Alexander-Coons bill is a partial reauthorization of the 2007 and 2010 versions of the America COMPETES bill, bipartisan legislation that called for the doubling of research funding supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and DOE.

By contrast, the recently passed House COMPETES bill strips funding from research in energy efficiency, including work supported by ARPA-E, as well as biological, environmental and geological sciences, and social, behavioral, and economic sciences.

Many scientific groups, including APS, sent letters to U.S. House Science Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), expressing their disapproval with the House bill supported by Smith and opposed by Johnson. It is unclear whether the House and Senate will be able to reconcile the two versions of the COMPETES Act.